Load spacing assembly



April 22, 1947. c, s 2,419,346

LOAD SPACING ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 13, 1945 INVENTOR C. MEZZL's BY m ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 22, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I Clarence lEllis,,Lodi, Calii, assignor of ,one-

third to J. E. TDevine and one-third to James M. Prentice,'both of Lodi, Calif.

,iilpp'licationNovember 13, 1945,:SerialNo.16215989 fi Claims. l

}I;'his invention relates to the spacing :of rows of stacked boxes of produce in railroad refrigeration cars, and as to all common subject matter this application is a :continuation of my app cationnled October 4, 19.43, SerialNo. 504,874.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel and effective spacing means :for such rows of stacked boxes of produce in :amanner to effectively hold the same against displacement in the car while in transit, and at the same time to ;provide.for a free circulation ofair about the rows of stacked boxes in order to minimize the possibility of spoilage of the produce.

Itisa further object of the invention to provide such aspacing means which can be quickly-arranged in place as the ear is loaded with the boxes thereby reducing labor costs.

A still further and important object of the invention is toprovide such a spacing arrangement as will permit the use of lengths of ordinary standard dimension lumber as the spacing elements. These canbe reclaimed andsold for other usesat the point-10f unloading the car. In this respect my invention vdistinguishes from those loading assembliesheretofore used in the art, and which require specially manufactured spacing elements which have -no value and are not reclaimable for other uses upon arrival of the car at thepoint of unloading.

A still .further object of the invention is to so provide and locate the spacing elements so that it is not required that nails or the like be driven into'the'boxes of the load, which latter has been necessary in connection with certain types of load spacers heretofore "used.

A further object of the invention'is to produce a'simple'andinexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects are accomplished by means of suchistructure and relative arrangement of parts as :will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification :and claims.

.In the drawings similar characters :of reference indicatecorresponding parts in the several views:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through one-half of a refrigerator car showing my improved box spacing elements in position therein.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross sectional View of the car likewiselshowing thespacing elements in position between the rows ofstacked boxes.

Figure 3 is asectional view on a line 3--3 of Fig. .1.

"Figure 4 is a perspective view of a securing 2 plate for fastening adjacent spacingelementsitozgether,

Referring now more particularly to .theicharacters of reference on the drawings, numeral designates generally a refri-gerator'car having the usualxcentral door-entrances :2. At eachend of the :car is the .ice bunker .3 having the ,usual -forarninous bottom 4 'openingintoa passage way 5. The passage way5 :in turnicommunicates with a passage way-6 between the solid floor of vthe car and a :false floor 8 spaced from the floor 1. The floor 8 is made -up,-as usual, o'fspaced-flpart slats, which in some types of cars extend across the car at right angles and .in other types of cars extendacross the car-diagonally. In eitherevent, however, the slats are spaced apart'tolform xintervening airspaoes or-slots 9 which open from the space 6 intothe body-ofthe car.

The :numeral :I ll designates the rows vof stacked boxes of produce. In some instances the boxes are-stacked end to end longitudinally of the car,

and mother instances they may be stacked end -.to end transversely of the-car, but since the application of my invention thereto would be the same :in either event, 'Ivhave shownin Figs. :1 and :2 the boxes as they'appea-r in-end .toend'relation transversely-of the car.

,As-thel-rows of boxes are stackedvin thecar-a space ll .isdeft between the ends of the several rows and the side of the car and'spaces I2 are .left

between the rowsof stacked boxes at intermediate .points'transverselyof the car. These spaces may -.be .left directly'between each row of stacked boxes and the next row or two rows of boxes 'mayibe stacked end to end at ea'ch side of the car with one central row in between, and the :spaces I2 being left only between the single .row and the adjacent ends of the double rows as shown quite clearly in Fig. 2. My improved spacing elements :are arranged in the ,novel manner, which:iscne of the concepts of my invention, in the spaces u and.

My inventioncontemplates the use of spacing elements made up of ordinary lumber pieces of standard dimensions cut into suitablelengths. .I

prefer to .use for my purpose lumber pieces which are oblong incross section and usuallythese would .be regular 2" x4" lumber. These lumber pieces are out into suitable lengthsiso that the over-all length :of such lumber pieces, as used, will be a considerable amount greater than the heightof rows of stacked boxes so that when the lumber pieces are disposed vertically adjacent the ,rows of boxes they will project well above the same, .as :shownclearly inFig. 1.

I will now describe the novel method of disposing these lumber pieces in the spaces between the rows of stacked boxes in order to accomplish the objectives of my invention and which arrangement constitutes the essence. of my inventive concept.

Starting at the rear end of the car, and as the boxes are stacked, I first dispose a lumber piece I3 so that its lower end is in contact with the false floor 8 adjacent one lower corner of the stack of boxes. The lumber piece is then disposed diagonally across the stack to project above the same at the opposite upper corner of the stack. Another lumber piece is then placed in the reversed order so that it crosses the upper corner of the stack adjacent the upper corner across which the first piece has been disposed making an inverted V so that the lower end of the second piece then comes to rest on the floor 8 adjacent the. opposite lower corner of the second stack. 7

At the apex i l of the inverted V, formed by these two diagonally extending pieces, the two pieces come in contact with each other, but below such apex there is an open space I5 above the top level of the stacks of boxes l so that there may be a free flow of air therethrough.

In order to hold the two pieces together at their apex I provide a small metal plate 16 which has a V-shaped channelled projection ll adapted tofit partly into the open space H, the plate then being nailed to each of the lumber pieces by means of nails or other fastening means l8. By means of this plate the two adjacent upper ends of the two'lumber pieces are securely fastened together and will not displace relative to each other. At the same time the channel in the plate it permits the flow of air through the opening even if the plate [5 is positioned close to the top of the stacks of boxes.

At their lower ends the pieces [3 frictionally engage the floor 3 only and are prevented from any relative sliding movement by engagement with the edges of the slots 9. As the stacks of boxes continue to be piled in the rows, other sets of lumber pieces K3 are progressively added in the same manner and form as above described so that the final pattern of the spacing elements between the rows of stacked boxes is of zig-zag form as shown quite clearly in Fig. 1. Adjacent lower ends of the members of the pattern are spaced apart somewhat as at $9 in order to allow of some leakage of air from the passage way 6 therebetween.

The same zig-zag of the arrangement of the spacing elements is followed at each point where the boxes are spaced apart and also at the space between the outside rows of stacked boxes and the side walls 20 of the car.

While most boxes in which produce is shipped are of a standard size, it sometimes happens that there will be a slight variance in such size. Also while most refrigerator cars are of a standard width, there are instances in which there is a variance in such width. Since my lumber pieces are preferably of oblong shape in cross section this affords me an opportunity to place them in difi'erent relativepositions as to cross section in order to compensate for'such slight variations under the conditions noted. By using standard 2" x 4" lumber pieces or pieces of like standard dimensions, I may so position these in the different spaces as may compensate for the variance therein. This variance is usually not great and by having a differential of from 2" to 4" to reckon with, I find that pieces of this standard size can be so placed as to practically take care of all such variations. However, irrespective of the exact position of the pieces relative to their cross sectional dimensions, the basic arrangement of the zig-zag pattern is adhered to and the same fastening means is used.

As shown by the arrows in Fig. 1, it will be obvious that when the lumber pieces are in this zig-zag pattern, arranged in the manner described, refrigerated air, passing from the bunker 3 into the passage Way 5 and hence to passage way 6, may pass through the slots 9 into the spaces formed by the inverted V of the lumber pieces and thence upwardly along the sides of the boxes and out through the openings [5 so that there is a continuous circulation of the refrigerated air about the sides of the boxes in the spaces H and I2.

It will also be apparent that the lumber pieces, positioned as described, efiectively hold the boxes properly spaced apart and against endwise deflection.

Both of the above results are attained through the use of the veryinexpensive and'ever-ready lumber .pieces of standard dimensions which are usually purchasable at any point at which the car is being loaded; which can be-handled without any ore-manufacturing problems and which have many general uses to which such lumber pieces can be put when the loaded car arrives at its point of unloading. Also by bracing the zig-zag pattern against the bottom of the car and then securing the converging upper ends together with the plate [6 there is no opportunity of the spacing elements becoming displaced in transit and it is, therefore, unnecessary to nail or otherwise fasten them to the box ends.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that there has been produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein. V

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departurefrom the spirit of the invention, as .de-

fined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new and useful and upon which Letters Patent is desired: 7

l. A spacing. assembly for spaced parallel rows of stacks of boxes disposed in a car, such assembly comprising a plurality of upstanding pieces of lumber. disposed in the spaces between the ad jacent rows of boxes, each piece of lumber extending diagonally across one stack of boxes from a point adjacent one lower corn er thereof to a point adjacent the opposite upper corner thereof, the pieces across adjacent stacks extending in relatively opposite directions so that the upper and lower ends of the pieces .on adjacent stacks. respectively converge'toward'each other, whereby to form a zig-zag pattern in the space along the row of stacks, and means to maintain said pieces in such position. 4 I

boxes.

4. An assembly as in claim 1 in which the upper converging ends of the lumber pieces extend above the stacked boxes a distance sufficient to form air spaces between such converging ends at a point above the stacks of boxes.

5. An assembly as in claim 1 in which the upper converging ends of the lumber pieces extend above the stacked boxes a distance sufficient to form air spaces between such converging ends and metal plates secured across each pair of such 10 converging ends to secure them together. 

